10 Biggest Unanswered Star Trek Mysteries

7. The Warp Speed Limit

In The Next Generation episode Force of Nature, Starfleet are told that prolonged use of warp travel is tearing the very fabric of space apart and the damage may, soon, be irreversible. Presenting such a fundamental problem to the entire galaxy, the Federation Council makes the following statement.

Until we can find a way to counteract the warp field effect, the Council feels our best course is to slow the damage as much as possible. Therefore, areas of space found susceptible to warp fields will be restricted to essential travel only, and effective immediately, all Federation vessels will be limited to a speed of Warp 5 except in cases of extreme emergency.

Yet we still see numerous examples of Federation ships exceeding the Warp 5 threshold in The Next Generation, and by DS9 and Voyager it seems to have been forgotten completely.

Was a solution found, or did the Federation simply stop caring?